Voters Decide on Hospital-Related Ballot Measures
Voters in San Francisco and San Diego counties on Tuesday cast their ballots for several ballot measures related to hospitals. Summaries appear below.
San Francisco voters rejected a ballot measure, Proposition D, that would have barred psychiatric patients from seeking care at Laguna Honda Hospital and would have permitted the development of nursing homes on publicly zoned lots, the San Francisco Examiner reports.
The measure would have banned treatment of patients who pose a threat to themselves or other patients and those whose primary diagnosis was psychosis. Supporters of the measure said it would protect elderly patients at the hospital, which the city of San Francisco owns (Eslinger, San Francisco Examiner, 6/7).
Opponents of the measure argued that the proposed limits would result in patients with Alzheimer's disease or dementia being denied care at Laguna Honda. Opponents also criticized a provision of the measure that they say would have permitted the development of nursing homes on all public lots in San Francisco, not just Laguna Honda's property (Vega, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/7).
Preliminary results indicate that east San Diego County voters approved a $247 million bond measure, Proposition G, to fund improvements at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The measure needed two-thirds voter approval to pass.
The bond, which annually would increase the county property tax by $19.89 per $100,000 of assessed property for 30 years, would allow the hospital to build out three floors of a five-floor building that is already constructed and add 24 intensive care beds and 66 regular beds.
The money also would be used for five new operating rooms, plumbing and electrical improvements and seismic safety upgrades to the facility (Krueger, San Diego-Union Tribune, 6/7).
A bond measure, Proposition F, to fund improvements to Tri-City Medical Center appeared to be headed toward approval after partial ballot returns were counted on Tuesday, the Union-Tribune reports.
The bond would be used to expand the hospital, build a separate outpatient building and make seismic safety upgrades. The bond would levy $23.40 per $100,000 of assessed property value (Rodriguez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/7).